Social Linguistics

By the author of the Wizard of Oz, a magical tale about the origins and story of Santa Claus. Santa's childhood among the fairies and animals, how he came to make presents, and why he comes down our chimneys at Christmas.

Bishop Berkeley's famous question about the sound of a falling tree may have no standing in Science. But there is a highly interesting question about "sound" that Science needs to consider... A classic science fiction novelette by H. Beam Piper, first published in Analog Science Fact-Science Fiction in 1962.

A criminal plot, a kidnapped youth, and a sinister intelligence on an alien world. Out-Hunter Ras Hume has a plan to steal a fortune with a shadowy underworld character, but the plot goes awry on the supposedly open world of Jumala, which is not as open as it seemed. A classic science fiction novella by sci-fi master Andre Norton.

What would you do if you had discovered that the planet was about to be engulfed in a belt of poisonous "ether" from outer space? Professor Challenger invites a hand-picked crew of adventurers and scientists to his home outside London, which has been fortified with several hours' worth of oxygen. Challenger & Co. assemble in front of a picture window to witness the end of all life on the planet.

М.В. Ломоносов писал, что русский язык сочетает великолепие испанского, живость французского, крепость немецкого, нежность итальянского, а сверх того богатство и сильную в изображениях краткость греческого и латинского языков. Но насколько точно мы понимаем то, что стоит за текстами, которые мы читаем или слышим? Насколько мы умеем выражать свои мысли? Пользуемся ли русским языком во всей полноте, не только соблюдая формальные правила орфографии и орфоэпии? И "правильно" ли мы обозначаем действительность, выбирая слова, когда мы пишем и говорим?

Get By in Portuguese is devised specifically for travellers. The 70-minute download will help you to get to grips with the basics of spoken Portuguese, and introduces the most relevant language you'll hear when you're there. Listen to the audio a couple of times to practise the key phrases and vocabulary, and familiarise yourself with Portuguese pronunciation.

"The Keeper" is an absorbing sci-fi story that takes place during the time of the next ice age, thousands of years after men have left Earth and colonized the stars. The Crown is stolen, and the Keeper and his great dog Brave start across the ice to get it back and kill the thieves, if he can. The story features a great plot and a fascinating main character. A gem of a tale by one of the true masters of the genre.

Daisy Miller is the story of a beautiful, unconventional American girl who becomes the fascination of Frederick Winterbourne, a sophisticated compatriot. His pursuit of her is hampered by her flirtatiousness and flagrant disregard for the customs and behavior of the other expatriates when they meet in Switzerland and Italy.

A comic short story told in the first person by the first woman in the biblical creation story, Eve. Written in diary-entry style from creation to burial, the story was first published in the 1905 Christmas edition of Harper's Bazaar. Many believe it may have been written as a posthumous love-letter to Mark Twain's wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, or Livy, who died in June 1904, just before the story was written.

This superb comedy of manners pierces the pretentiousness and affectations of aristocratic Londoners in the late 1700s. Such aptly named characters as Lady Sneerwell, Sir Benjamin Backbite, and Sir Joseph Surface make this a truly delightful romp!

La "Trilogía Soca" se completa... Después del éxito de La fascinante historia de las palabras y de Palabras fabulosas llega Palabras milenarias, una nueva recopilación presentada en forma de diccionario con cerca de 500 nuevos términos. El autor Ricardo Soca nos invita a emprender un viaje en el que atravesamos nuestra civilización en compañía de las palabras y sus historias, con el estilo claro y ameno, y con el rigor que caracteriza su obra.

This is the ideal way to quickly master the Cockney (British) accent using a combination of approaches from pronunciation and oral posture techniques to dialect development (Cockney rhyming slang) and practice exercises. The course also contains guidance on developing a basic British accent to underpin a Cockney accent if desired dependent on your native accent. This course can help you prepare for a Cockney role or audition on stage or screen.

Since logic derives from postulates, it never has, and never will, change a postulate. And a religious belief is a system of postulates...so how can a man fight a native superstition with logic in order to save the inhabitants of an entire planet? A classic science fiction novelette by H. Beam Piper, first published in Analog Science Fact-Science Fiction, in 1960.

A grandfather and a scientist travels to a perfect world somewhere in the universe, a heaven, so to speak. No wars, no greed, everything a body or a soul could ever want is provided. On his 21st birthday, the grandson is abducted by beings sent from that world by the grandfather. There is a problem however: Two other "friends" are also abducted, and they are less then honorable. Will the two friends who harbor lust, greed, avarice etc., in their hearts affect this perfect world? Narrator Norman Gilligan will take you to this world with his magnificent reading of The World Beyond.

Eve's Diary - Complete, written by the incomparable Mark Twain, was first published in 1905 in the Christmas edition of Harper's Bazaar. This charming short story is told from both Adam and Eve's point of view as they traverse their new world from the Garden through to the Fall and is said to be a love letter to his late wife Olivia Langdon Clemens who passed a year before it's publication.

This novel tells the story of impoverished, embarrassment-prone Archibald "Archie" Moffam and his difficult relationship with his art-collecting, hotel-owning, millionaire father-in-law, Daniel Brewster, the father of Archie's new bride, Lucille. Archie's attempts to ingratiate himself with Brewster only get him further into trouble. The story takes place in New York City.

An enterprising company has set up a mining endeavor on an asteroid to collect, process, and sell atmospheric gas products. The company, called Sword, is initially successful until an unnamed government tries to stamp out freedom and free enterprise in the Belt so the gases and minerals can be sent back to Earth, essentially trying to establish the business as a colony. Early Poul Anderson with a great finish.

Dark Kensington had been dead for 25 years. It was a fact; everyone knew it. Then suddenly he reappeared, youthful, brilliant, ready to take over the Phoenix, the rebel group that worked to overthrow the tyranny that gripped the settlers on Mars.The Phoenix had been destroyed not once, not twice, but three times. But this time the resurrected Dark had new plans, plans which involved dangerous experiments in mutation and psionics. And now the rebels realized they were in double jeopardy.

Are you sick and tired of always trying to do what is right and succeed in social settings? Have you tried endless other solutions but nothing seems to work for more than a few weeks? Do you finally want to say goodbye to failed relationships, lost sales, and professional struggles, and discover something which works for you?

The Lady, or The Tiger, written by Frank R. Stockton and narrated by Rebecca Thomas, invites the listener into a semi-barbaric world where justice is decided by fate. The right choice rewards the innocent with marriage; the wrong choice punishes the guilty by serving him to a starving tiger. When the princess' lover is sent to the arena, she discovers the secret of the choice. But what choice does she herself make?